Trash crusher



Nov. 3, 1964 n. .1. MORGENSON 3,155,028

TRASH CRUSHER Filed Jan. 30, 1963 INVENTOR- DONALD J. MORGENSON A'TORA/Er tenance of the crusher.

United States. Patent 3,155,028 TRASH CRUSHER Donald J. Morgenson,Racine, Wis, assignor to Shatter King Mfg. Co., Inc, Racine, Wis, acorporation of Wisconsin Filed Earn. 30, 1963, Ser. No. 255,833? 9Claims. (Cl. 10096) This invention relates to a trash crusher.

It is an object of this invention to provide a trash crusher which i animprovement on the crushers heretofore known in that the crusher of thisinvention is effective and eificient in both feeding the trash throughthe crusher and in crushing the trash. In accomplishing this particularobject, it will of course be understood that a trash crusher shouldperferably have provision for feeding the trash therethrough by grippingthe trash and working it through the crusher, or by allowing the trashto fall into a position where it can be crushed. Heretofore, crushershave not had effective means for feeding or guiding the trashtherethrough, and this is of particular concern when dealing with trashof varying sizes in the items to be crushed. Accordingly, it isrecognized that a crusher must be able to feed the trash through it, andit must be able to handle trash of items of various sizes, and thisparticular object is the goal of this invention.

Another object of this invention is to provide a trash crusher whereinthe trash can be uniformly crushed with uniform pressure, such that onefirm article of trash will not prevent the crusher from crushing softerarticle of trash on one end of the vane will compress the vane, but theother end of the vane will not be compressed, and it will thereforeforce against the articles of trash at that point to crush the trash onthe uncompressed vane end. By this means, none of the trash is permittedto fall through the crusher in an uncrushed form, and also all of thetrash is uniformly crushed.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a trash crusherwhich is adjustable in its crushing pressure so that the operator canactually control and vary the amount of pressure applied to the trashbeing crushed.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a trash crusherwhich is not complicated in its design and thus there is simplicity inmanufacture and main- Also, in conjunction with this object, the crusheris so designed that the operator can readily remove or disassemble theparts of the crusher for on-the-job servicing or inspection when needed.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a trash crusherwhich has a means or hopper for receiving bulk trash dumped thereinto,and which has a feeder section for controlling the passage of the bulktrash into a final crusher section. Thus this object accomplishes thepurpose and benefit of controlling the passage of the trash into thecrusher element, even though all of the trash may be dumped into themachine by the operator at one time.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading thefollowing description in light of the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of a preferred embodiment of a crusherof this invention, and having parts thereof broken away for showing theconstruction.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a fragment of the crusher shown in FIG. 1, andwith a part thereof broken away.

The crusher consists of three basic parts indicated as the hopper 10,the feeder 11, and the crusher element 12. The entire machine consistingof these three sections is defined by the side members 13 and 14, andthe end sheets 16 and 17. The end sheets or plates 16 and 17 are ofcourse on opposite ends of the machine, and the trash will fall out ofthe machine between the two plates 16 and 17. The nearer plate 16 isbroken away as shown to provide an interior view of the machine, and itwill here be seen that the hopper 10 has two spaced-apart shelves 18extending inwardly on the hopper to guide the trash downwardly towardthe feeder 11 and permit the trash to drop into the feeder. The feeder11 has two shafts 19 rotatably mounted therein, and two sprockets 29 aremounted on the shaft 19 to rotate therewith. Also two cylinders 21 aremounted on the shafts 19 and rotate with the shafts, and the cylindershave three vanes 22 radially disposed thereon and spaced around thecylinders 21. One vane 22 is shown interiorly, and it will here be notedthat the vanes 22 are preferably spring-biased radially outwardly bymeans of the vane 22 being arranged with a telescopic construction ofthe outer vane portion 23 and the inner vane portion 24 fixed on thecylinder 21. Thus a guiding pin 26 is disposed in the outer vane portion23 and a compression coil spring 27 urges the vane portion 23 radiallyoutwardly. It will therefore be unde i-stoodthat the vanes 22 arespring-loaded and can be moved inwardly from their positions shown, andthey will of course engage the trash falling through the shelves 13, andthus restrict and regulate the flow of the trash into the crushersection 12. Of course the cylinders 21 are rotated through a meanshereinafter described, and the cylinders rotate in the direction of thearrows indicated A, and thus the vanes '22 will control the trash flowand will be pressed radially inwardly on the cylinder 21 when the vanesengage trash which forces inwardly on the vanes 22. In normal andpreferred operation, the vanes 22 extend radially outwardly to provide arestriction for the trash disposed thereon so that only a very limitedamount of trash can fall past the vanes 22 until of course the vanesrotate away or downwardly with respect to the trash, and then thecylinders 21 provide the restricted opening for the flow of the trashtherepast. In this manner, the feeder 11 controls the fall or flow ofthe trash into the crusher 12.

The feeder sprockets 20 are powered by sprocket chains 31 driven bysprockets 32 mounted on the shafts $3 in the crusher 12. The latter areof course rotatably mounted to rotate the sprockets 32 in the directionof the arrows indicated B. The shafts 33 are in turn rotated by gears 34mounted on the shafts 33, and the one gear 34 is in mesh with and drivenby a gear 36 on a shaft 37. The shaft 37 would of course be driven byany suitable source of power or a prime mover, such that the gear 36rotates in the direction of the arrow indicated C,

and the crusher and feeder are rotated in the direction shown as thearrows indicate including the arrows D, which indicate the direction ofrotation of the gears 34.

The crusher 12 consists of the two cylinders 41 which have end plates 42mounted on the shafts 33 on opposite ends thereof, and of course onopposite ends of the cylinders 41, such that the cylinders are disposedin parallel axial relation and are thus rotated in synchronization witheach other so that the trash will of course fall therebetween and be fedbetween and downwardly from the cylinders 41. The cylinders 41 arepreferably hollow, as indicated in the lower portion of FIG. 2, and thecylinders have openings 43 of a rectangular nature extending forvirtually the length of the cylinders 41 and being spaced around thecircumferences of the cylinders. Vane units generally designated 44 aredisposed within the cylinder openings 43, and extend radially beyond thecircumference of the cylinders 41. A channel member 46 is disposedwithin the cylinder opening 41 and has an arcuate flange 47 overlappingthe cylinder 41, and screws 48 extend through the flanges 47 and thecylinder 41 to secure the channels 46 to the cylinder. Of course thechannels 46 are provided below each of the vanes 4-4 and extend throughsubstantially the lengths of the two cylinders 41.

The vanes 44 consist of the channel member 49 which has an outer section51 and side section 52 with the latter telescoping within the innerchannel 46. Also, rubber pieces 53 are disposed within the channel 46 toseal between the two telescoping sides of .the channels 46 and 49. Thechannel 49 is yieldingly urged radially outwardly of the cylinders 41 bymeans of the compression springs 54 extending between the channels 46and 49 along bolts 56 spaced on the cylinders 41. Nuts 57 are providedat the inner ends of the bolts 56 and the bolt heads 58 are availablefor adjustment of the bolts 56, and accordingly the pressure of thesprings 54 can be adjusted. A significant feature is the location of thebolts 56 at both ends of the vanes 44 such that when one end iscompressed by trash, the other end will not necessarily be compressed,depending upon the firmness of the trash at the other end of the vane44. Still further, it will be understood that if, for instance, only thetop of the vane shown sectioned in FIG. 1 is subjected to a forcesufficient to compress the upper spring 54, the bottom of the vane 44and the lower spring 54 will not be compressed and any trash at thelower portion of the vane 44 will also then be crushed with a uniformpressure, since the vane will actually tip both longitudinally of thecylinder 41, and it will tip with respect to the longitudinal axis ofthe vane 44 so that twodirectional tipping is possible to have the vanethus con stantly exert a uniform pressure along its length. This can bemore completely described by a diagram of a force indicated F at the topof the vane 44, and a smaller force indicated S at the bottom of thevane 44, and it will now be appreciated that the top of the vane 44 willmove radially inwardly in the channel 46 while the bottom of the vane 44will not. Likewise, in FIG. 2, the end section of the vane 44 could havea larger force applied downwardly thereon, while the unshown end mayhave the smaller force applied theron, and thus the shown end of FIG. 2with the larger force thereon would press the vane radially inwardly. Bythis means of at least four springs 54, the vane is free to be disposedin a variety of positions so that it will always exert uniform pressureon the trash passing through the opening between the length of thecylinders 41.

Also, the sides 52 of the vanes 44 are directed inwardly toward eachother so that the vane-tilting action described in connection withforces F and S will permit the vane to tilt with the necessary clearancebetween the channels 46 and 49. In the tilting action mentioned, it willtherefore be understood that the bolt 56 in the upper position willserve as a fulcrum point with respect to the force F, and thus themoment arm from F to 4 upper bolt 56 is relatively short and thereforethe vane can apply a great pressure in resisting the force F, as theupper spring 54 is located close to the vane upper side 52 for resistingforces in the location of the force F.

It is also been found that only several vanes 44, and preferably threethereof, are most efiicient in both guiding and crushing the trashpassing therethrough. Thus it will be noted that the vanes 44 extendaround the cylinders 41 for a certain portion thereof which is onlyslightly less than the circumferential portion extending between thevanes 44 on the cylinders 41. Still further, it will of course beobserved that the cylinders 41 with the vanes 44 are synchronized forrotation so that the vanes 44 will mesh with the intervening cylinderportions designated generally 61 in FIG. 1. In this manner, the crusheris much like two spur gears in mesh with the projecting vanes 44extending into the intervening or intermediate portions of the adjacentcylinder 41, as shown in FIG. 1. Thus the trash will be pulled. down orguided between the cylinders 41 by means of the vane sides 52, at leastin part, but because of the angularity to the sides 52, presenting arectangular vane shape axially of the cylinders, and because of thelocation of the springs 54, the vanes 44 will be able to handle thetrash and carry it between the cylinders 41 to where the vanes 44 andthe opposite cylinder portion 61 can crush the trash. To further assistin gripping and leading the trash down into the crusher, angularlyshaped means comprising projections or vanes 62 are provided on thevanes 44 to extend through the length thereof, and also projections orvanes 63 are provided on the cylinder portion 61 to extend through thelength thereof. These vanes 62 and 63 of course will provide treads orgrips for engaging the trash, and leading it downwardly in the crusher.

Therefore it will be noted that the vanes 44 are well spaced-apart onthe cylinders 41 and project a substantial distance from the cylinders41 so that trash can of course enter between the vanes and the cylinders41 in sufficient quantity to have the crusher work rapidly andefficiently, and also the vane 44 can be adequately spring-biased toprovide the uniform crushing effect along the length of the vanes 44,and to resist lateral forces on the vanes V While a specific embodimentof this invention has been shown and described, it should be obviousthat certain changes could be made therein and the invention thereforeshould be determined only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed it:

1. A trash crusher comprising a pair of cylinders disposed in paralleland spaced-apart relation,vanes extending along the lengths of each ofsaid cylinders and having a width extending around predeterminedportions of the circumference of each of said cylinders and being spacedtherearound, angularly shaped means on the radially outer surfaces ofeach of said vanes for pulling trash to a position between saidcylinders, yielding means operatively interposed between said cylindersand said vanes for yieldingly urging said vanes radially outwardly onsaid cylinders, each of said cylinders including a cylinder portion inthe space intermediate every two of said vanes and being of acircumferential length substantially equal to said width of each of saidvanes, and means for rotating said cylinders in synchronization to haveeach of said vanes on the respective said cylinders meet with arespective said cylinder portion for crushing trash between each of saidvanes and each of said cylinders.

2. A trash crusher comprising a pair of cylinders disposed in paralleland spaced-apart relation and having openings therein spaced around saidcylinders and extending along the lengths thereof, vanes snuglytelescopically disposed in said openings of each of said cylindersthroughout the lengths of said openings and extending radially beyondsaid cylinders and being mov-.

able into said openings, said vanes being rectangularly shaped axiallyof said cylinders, separate yielding means operatively interposedbetween said cylinders and each of the rectangular corners of said vanesfor separately yieldingly urging said corners of said vanes radiallyoutwardly on said cylinders, each of said cylinders including a cylinderportion in the space intermediate every two of said vanes and being of acircumferential length substantially equal to the width of each of saidvanes, and means for rotating said cylinders in synchronization to haveeach of said vanes on the respective said cylinders meet with arespective said cylinder portion for crushing trash between each of saidvanes and each of said cylinders.

3. A trash crushing machine comprising a hopper with an open top andhaving a restricted lower opening smaller than said top for passingtrash therethrough, a pair of rotating members disposed below saidhopper in a position to receive the trash passed through said hopper andfor passing trash through said members, a pair of cylinders disposed inparallel and spaced-apart relation below said rotating members forreceiving the trash passed by the latter, drive means connected betweensaid members and said cylinders for transmitting rotary motiontherebetween, said cylinders having openings therein spaced around saidcylinders and extending along the lengths thereof, vanes snuglytelescopically disposed in said openings of each of said cylinders andextending radially beyond said cylinders and being movable into saidopenings and being rectangular in radial projection, yielding meansoperatively interposed between said cylinders and said vanes and adaptedand disposed to force outwardly on the corners of said vanes foryieldingly urging said vanes radially outwardly on said cylinders, eachof said cylinders including a cylinder portion in the space intermediateevery two of said vanes and being of a circumferential lengthsubstantially equal to the width of each of said vanes, and means forrotating said cylinders in synchronization to have each of said vanes onthe respective said cylinders meet with a respective said cylinderportion for crushing trash between each of said vanes and each of saidcylinders.

4. A trash crusher comprising a pair of cylinders rotat ably disposed inspaced-apart rolling relation, vanes extending radially outwardly alongthe lengths of said cylinders and around a predetermined amount of thecircumference of each of said cylinders and being circumferentiallyspaced apart thereon, separate yielding means operatively interposedbetween said cylinders and each of the opposite ends of said vanes forindependently yieldingly urging said ends of said vanes radiallyoutwardly on said cylinders, said cylinders including surfacesintermediate said vanes and being of a size slightly greater than theradially projected size of said vanes, said vanes extending in anoverlapping relation between said cylinders, and means operativelyconnected to said cylinders for rotating said cylinders insynchronization for meshing said vanes on the respective said cylinderswith said surfaces on the opposite one of said cylinders for crushingrash between each of said vanes and each of said suraces.

5. A trash crusher comprising a pair of cylinders rotatably disposed inspaced-apart relation, vanes extending radially outwardly along thelengths of said cylinders and around a predetermined amount of thecircumference of each of said cylinders and being circumferentiallyspaced apart thereon, compression spring and bolt means connecting saidvanes to said cylinders and being operatively interposed therebetweenand disposed at the opposite ends of said vanes for independentlyyieldingly urging said ends of said vanes radially outwardly on saidcylinders, said means being arranged to be threadedly adjustable fromthe exterior of said vanes, said cylinders including surfacesintermediate said vanes and being of a size slight- 1y greater than theradially projected size of said vanes, said vanes extending in anoverlapping relation between opposite ones of said cylinders, and drivemeans interconnected for rotating said cylinders in synchronization formeshing said vanes on the respective said cylinders with said surfaceson the opposite one of said cylinders for crushing trash between each ofsaid vanes and each of said surfaces.

6. A trash crusher comprising a pair of hollow rollers rotatably mountedin spaced-apart relation and including an exterior surface, said rollershaving openings extending through said surfaces in spaced locationstherearound, vanes disposed in said openings and overlapping saidsurfaces to be supported radially inwardly on said rollers and extendingradially outwardly thereof along the length of each of said rollers andthe combined width of said vanes on each of said rollers being slightlyless than one-half of the periphery of each of said rollers, said tworollers being disposed and said vanes extending to have said vanesoverlap each other on opposite ones of said rollers in a gear-meshingnature when said rollers are rotated, yielding means operativelyinterposed between said rollersand said vanes for yieldingly urging saidvanes radially outwardly on said rollers, said rollers includingsurfaces intermediate said vanes, and drive means interconnected betweensaid rollers for rotating said rollers in synchronization and with saidvanes on the respective said rollers disposed to face said surfaces forcrushing trash between each of said vanes and each of said surfaces.

7. A trash crusher comprising a pair of cylinders rotatably disposed inspaced-apart relation, vanes extending radially outwardly along thelengths of said cylinders and around a predetermined amount of thecircumference of each of said cylinders and being circumferentiallyspaced apart thereon, fastening means connected between said vanes andsaid cylinders for releasably securing said vanes to said cylinders,spring means operatively interposed between said cylinders and saidvanes for yieldingly urging said vanes radially outwardly on saidcylinders, said cylinders including surfaces intermediate said vanes andbeing of a size slightly greater than the radially projected size ofsaid vanes, said vanes extending in an overlapping relation between saidcylinders, and means for rotating said cylinders in synchronization formeshing said vanes on the respective said cylinders with said surfaceson the opposite one of said cylinders for crushing trash between each ofsaid vanes and each of said surfaces.

8. A trash crusher comprising a pair of cylinders rotatably mounted inspaced-apart relation, vanes extending radially outwardly on saidcylinders along the length of each of said cylinders and the combinedwidth of said vanes on each of said cylinders being slightly less thanone-half of the circumference of each of said cylinders, said vanesbeing spaced apart on said cylinders, said two cylinders being disposedand said vanes extending to have said vanes overlap each other onopposite ones of said cylinders in a gear-meshing nature when saidcylinders are rotated, yielding means operatively interposed betweensaid cylinders and said vanes for yieldingly urging said vanes radiallyoutwardly on said cylinders, said cylinder s including surfacesintermediate said vanes, projections on the radially outer surfaces ofat least one of said vanes and said surfaces for gripping trash, andmeans for rotating said cylinders in synchronization and with said vaneson the respective said cylinders disposed to face said surfaces forcrushing trash between each of said vanes and each of said surfaces.

9. A trash crusher comprising a pair of cylinders rotatably mounted inspaced-apart relation, three vanes extending radially outwardly on saidcylinders along the length of each of said cylinders and the combinedwidth of said three vanes being slightly less than one-half of thecircumference of each of said cylinders, said three vanes being equallyspaced on each of said cylinders, said 8 two cylinders being disposedand said vanes extending t2 R fer n Cig b th E i have said vanes overlapeach other on opposite ones 0 said cylinders in a gear-meshing naturewhen said cylin- UNITED STATES PATENTS ders are rotated, yielding meansopcratively interposed 596,255 10/ 97 WeSSBl 1 0-96 between saidcylinders and said vanes for yieldingly urging 5 1381123 10/18 Erkfilens29-121 said vanes radially outwardly on said cylinders, said cyl-1,937,266 11/ 3 Dale 241-234 inders including three surfacesintermediate said three 8 9/37 Rey 29-l21 X vanes, and means forrotating said cylinders in synchro- ,964 10/44 Moroni 100-96 X nizationand with said vanes on the respective said cylin- ,766,795 10/56 Yoerger10094 X ders disposed to face said surfaces for crushing trash 10between each of said vanes and each of said surfaces. WALTER SCHEEL, a yExammer-

1. A TRASH CRUSHER COMPRISING A PAIR OF CYLINDERS DISPOSED IN PARALLELAND SPACED-APART RELATION, VANES EXTENDING ALONG THE LENGTHS OF EACH OFSAID CYLINDERS AND HAVING A WIDTH EXTENDING AROUND PREDETERMINEDPORTIONS OF THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF EACH OF SAID CYLINDERS AND BEING SPACEDTHEREAROUND, ANGULARLY SHAPED MEANS ON THE RADIALLY OUTER SURFACES OFEACH OF SAID VANES FOR PULLING TRASH TO A POSITION BETWEEN SAIDCYLINDERS, YIELDING MEANS OPERATIVELY INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID CYLINDERSAND SAID VANES FOR YIELDINGLY URGING SAID VANES RADIALLY OUTWARDLY ONSAID CYLINDERS, EACH OF SAID CYLINDERS INCLUDING A CYLINDER PORTION INTHE SPACE INTERMEDIATE EVERY TWO OF SAID VANES AND BEING OF ACIRCUMFERENTIAL LENGTH SUB-